A little more than friends
by iridescent-ren
Summary: Kuro never knew how much his smile meant to him, until he couldn't see it anymore. He had no idea what true guilt felt like until then, Mahiru hadn't been the same. He was pushing himself too far. Was it really all his fault? Could he do something to help his partner?


_Description: Kuro never knew how much his smile meant to him, until he couldn't see it anymore. He had no idea what true guilt felt like until then, Mahiru hadn't been the same. He was pushing himself too far. Was it really all his fault? Could he do something to help his partner?_

No words left his lips as he stared with a horrified expression, blood covered his pale hands. He wanted to scream but no sound came out, only a small helpless plea, "…M-Mahiru…" his eve and partner, the reason he was able to overcome his regret and the reason he wakes up almost looking forward to the day lay in front of him. Not on a carpeted floor or couch but on the cold hard ground with a large red sword impaled through his heart. Mahiru used all the energy left in his body to give Kuro one last smile, his face was bloodied and bruised yet he was able to smile at Kuro even if it was weak. Kuro could only watch as the life left his eyes and his body fell limp.

"MAHIRU!"

Kuro jolted awake, sweat rolling down his face. It was another nightmare. His eyes were drawn to Mahiru's door opening with a tired and confused Mahiru exiting. He looked at Kuro with a worried expression and slowly walked over, he must have heard Kuro screaming. He knew why Mahiru was going so slow and steady and he hated it, he hated himself for it.

Seeing the bruises lining Mahiru's legs and arms made the memories of the fight flood back to him, Tsubaki was practically throwing him around like a doll and Kuro could only watch in horror, he was powerless. He had never felt so weak and useless, the one thing that mattered to him more than sleep and ramen was screaming as he was thrown against the wall over and over and he couldn't do anything. Mahiru was his eve, so wasn't he meant to protect him? Why couldn't he complete the simplest task of protecting his own partner. The worst part was, Mahiru acted like he was fine.

Kuro was shaken from his thoughts when Mahiru sat next to him

"Hey Kuro…. Are you okay?"

Kuro said nothing, there was nothing to say. It was obvious.

"It was those nightmares again wasn't it…"

Silence, Mahiru didn't need to ask, he knew it was. Kuro never talked about what happened in them, Mahiru could only guess it was something terrible, horrible enough to shake Kuro up this much. Mahiru had never seen him so anxious and scared. Mahiru gave Kuro a small pat on the head, it was a small gesture but it made him feel a whole lot better. Mahiru was still there, he was still alive and breathing. It was only a dream.

Mahiru told him everything was going to be okay and went back to his room, to be fair it was 3am in the morning. Kuro couldn't sleep again that night, he just turned on his ds and with the sound on mute and played until morning when Mahiru came out of his room. Mahiru yawned and walked over to open the curtains, it was clear he didn't have very much energy.

He closed them then turned around only to trip over his own feet, Kuro was in his cat form due to the light, he was lying over the back of the couch and looked over at him with worry. Mahiru got straight back up on his feet and headed for the kitchen dragging his feet.

"I'm fine. What would you like for breakfast Kuro?"

Mahiru asked with a blank expression, Kuro felt a pang in his heart as he thought about it. Mahiru hadn't smiled once since the fight, he wasn't himself. He was clearly lacking energy and was very weak but his personality had dimmed as well, Mahiru grabbed some toast from the bench but dropped them almost instantly. His hands fumbled around as he picked up the bread again in a strange way, Kuro couldn't watch anymore.

He trotted over to the curtains and bit onto them closing them stopping the light from entering, in his human form he externally sighed knowing what he was going to do would create a whole lot of bothersome effort.

"Oi Mahiru, you can sit down, I'll make breakfast"

Mahiru looked at him with a confused expression, since when did Kuro voluntarily do work? He muttered "Huh.." in shock. Kuro rolled his eyes and walked over to the kitchen with his hands in his pockets.

"You can barely pick up a piece of toast, you clearly aren't fine. It'll become really troublesome if you push yourself"

Mahiru nodded and sat down on the stools at the kitchen bench, he knew Kuro had no idea how to cook, but surely he could at the very least make a piece of toast? Little did he know how wrong he was. Kuro put the toast inside the microwave.

"No no Kuro! The toast goes in the toaster you can't make toast using a microwave"

"…Shit"

He stopped the microwave and pulled out the toast only to drop it on the floor with shock because he wasn't expecting it to be hot, Kuro carefully picked up the toast and put it in the bin and sighed while walking over to get another one his face flushed with embarrassment. He really had no clue what he was doing, it was so troublesome. Mahiru couldn't contain it and burst out laughing with the biggest stupidest grin on his face, he laughed so hard tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

"S-Sorry Kuro aahahaha" he said between laughs, trying to catch his breath.

Kuro would usually be annoyed at the brunette laughing at his expense, but Mahiru's laugh always made his breath hitch, he had missed seeing him smile like that. His smile and laugh always lit up the room, Kuro was glad he was able to see it again. There was a small silent pause before Mahiru spoke again,

"Thanks for this Kuro"

Mahiru smiled at him, Kuro didn't know how to respond. He hadn't done anything to deserve thanks, he was the one that let Mahiru get hurt and after all that he couldn't even give him a piece of toast without messing up. Things could have been better if Mahiru had never picked him up…

"…I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you…"

Kuro quietly muttered, he was finally able to say it. He heard the groaning of Mahiru's chair being pushed back as he stood and walked to the other side of the bench where Kuro was,

"It's not your fault Kuro"

He firmly stated giving and honest small smile before wrapping his arms around Kuro, he was shocked by the sudden movement but made no move to resist. Mahiru buried his head in Kuro's chest, it was somewhat comforting. Kuro knew that with Mahiru in his arms he was safe, Mahiru didn't hate him or blame him for what had happened. It wasn't his fault. It was like a weight was lifted of his shoulders feeling Mahiru's arms around him.

Mahiru looked up and their eyes interlocked for a second where the world seemed to stop, the both jumped back a little with bright red flushed faces. The day went on like that, Mahiru would try to avoid making his injuries worse and Kuro would attempt to help out around the house in the slowest way possible. It was incredibly hard to watch.

Eventually Mahiru and Kuro played some Mario Kart together, they both lay down in front of the TV with their remotes and fiercely battled it out. Kuro choose the character Boo immediately, the championship they picked had lots of tough turns and Boo's car made the best turns, it also has one of the highest speed. Mahiru choose Mario for no other reason than because it was the simple choice at which Kuro scoffed. Kuro won every single round which wasn't surprising to either of them, until it came down to Rainbow Road. Mahiru fell off only 4 seconds after the match started.

"I think that might be a record for you"

Kuro boredly stated referring to the how bad Mahiru was at Mario Kart, for the record he wasn't that bad, just compared to a vampire who has lived since it first came out and spends all his free time playing games he was terrible. Mahiru got a massive tick mark on his forehead as he respawned, before that anger suddenly turned into a sly smirk.

Kuro hadn't fallen once and he was a quarter of the way through the track, he was very focused and wasn't paying attention to his scheming partner next to him. Mahiru reached over and pressed random buttons on Kuro's remote making the car freak out and fall off the edge, Kuro gave a glare in Mahiru's direction. And it was that moment he knew he fucked up.

Mahiru tried to get up and run but was stopped by Kuro who pulled him down gently, Kuro pinned Mahiru down on the floor and started tickling him on his ribs, Mahiru burst out laughing.

"N-no stop-p HHAAHAHAHAHHA N-NO AHAHA"

Mahiru was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe, Kuro had some mercy and let him take a breath, Mahiru enjoyed the moment of salvation he had. Mahiru opened his eyes again still smiling and then they both realized how close they were. Kuro could feel Mahiru's breath on his skin, he could see his soft lips in full detail, their faces were only centimetres apart. They got closer and closer until their lips were practically touching, Mahiru closed his eyes and leaned in.

Both of them smashed foreheads and jumped back in surprised when a loud ringing sound was heard. Mahiru's phone was ringing, both of their faces turned a deep shade of red and Kuro muttered his catchphrase "Can't deal" to himself and Mahiru spoke,

"I-I'll go get that!"

He rushed off in embarrassment. Mahiru went off into his room to take the call, Kuro just sat their facing away, what on earth was he thinking? It was like he was hypnotized, it wasn't like him to do something like that. He was the sin of Sloth not lust, but why did he move in for the kill.

"ahhh can't deal" he repeated, more vocal this time.

Mahiru came back into the room and they both tried to act like nothing happened in a much more awkward way, they turned off the game and Kuro cleaned up. Kuro flopped on the couch and was ready to sleep,

"Hey Kuro, do you want to sleep in my bed tonight…? I mean I just thought in case you get nightmares again…"

Kuro nodded and followed Mahiru into his room, he had slept in Mahiru's bed with Mahiru plenty of times but was usually kicked out after not long. Mahiru was already in his Pyjamas and fell asleep almost instantly, Kuro looked at his sleeping face and couldn't help but think it was cute. He turned around to face the wall and started to close his eyes when he felt a soft body pressing up against him and snuggling against his back, Kuro had a light blush on his cheeks but stayed still, he didn't want to disturb Mahiru. Soon he fell asleep cuddling with his eve, no nightmares had plagued him that night.

Kuro woke up in the bed alone, he sleepily walked out and saw Mahiru dressed and getting out bacon from the fridge. Kuro loved bacon.

"I told you not to push yourself-" Kuro sighed "-Can't deal"

Mahiru gave a small chuckle,

"I'm fine, it's not too hard to make bacon. You deserve it after all your hard work yesterday"

Kuro walked over to him, Mahiru gave a small questioning look and Kuro bit the corner of his lip. He leaned in and his lips softly clashed with Mahiru's. Mahiru was shocked at first but then leaned into the kiss, the kiss was passionate but seemed to go by in an instant, it felt so short and left them both craving more.

"Really Kuro!" Mahiru said giving Kuro a playful hit on the shoulder "You could have warned me!"

"So troublesome"

Mahiru just smiled before pulling the corner of Kuro's shirt and leaning up for another kiss.

 **A/N: OKAY THAT WAS LONGER THAN EXPECTED OMG I love KuroMahi a little too much and I just had to write something like this ;; v sorry for the angst at the beginning. Also if any of you have played Mario Kart then you understand the pain ;;**

 **If you liked it please review/comment that would mean the world to me 3 Thank you!~**

 **Word Count: 2089**

 **~Astra~**


End file.
